Showing posts with label Road traffic safety. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Road traffic safety. Show all posts

Thursday, 14 March 2013

Drugs and Driving

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The news is full of horrendous stories highlighting the dangers of drink driving, but the rise in people driving under the influence of drugs should not be overlooked. This abhorrent practice often fails to make an impact on the headlines, but driving under the influence of drugs is a highly dangerous risk to take. 

 

The Department of Transport reported at least 640 accidents and 49 deaths were caused as a result of drivers being under the influence of either illegal or medicinal drugs. It will come as no surprise that drugs can cause hallucinations, paranoia, dizziness and a whole host of other side effects, which can severely affect your ability to drive.  People found to be under the influence of drugs when driving face a fine of up to £5000, a jail sentence of up to six months and an automatic driving ban, with a minimum 12 month suspension.


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Wednesday, 6 March 2013

1966 - A Year of Change

Unipower 1966
Unipower 1966 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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It wasn’t until 1966 that drivers became subject to the laws of drink driving. With the introduction of the new Road Safety Bill at the start of the year, vehicle owners were capped from driving if there was 80mg of alcohol in 100cc of their blood. This was calculated through a urine test. The enforcement was part of the government's wider campaign to remind people to take more care on the roads and be mindful of the safety of nearby pedestrians. It took another year for the breathalyser test to come into force giving police the means to discern data from a suspect there and then at the roadside. The imitative helped decrease the percentage of road traffic accidents where alcohol had been a factor from 25% to 15% in the first year. There were 1,152 fewer recorded deaths, 11,177 fewer serious injuries and 28,130 fewer slight injuries caused by road traffic accidents.


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